Ibai Gomez revealed he received an offer from Leeds in January

Leeds United had been linked with a move for Ibai Gomez for a number of months running up to the January transfer window.

The 29-year-old’s contract at Alaves was set to expire in the summer, however, he has since completed a return to Athletic Bilbao earlier this month.

Marcelo Bielsa was the player’s manager at the Basque outfit and was keen to reunite with him at the Championship leaders to help Leeds with their efforts to win promotion to the Premier League.

And, speaking to Mundo Deportivo, the set-piece specialist has revealed he had an offer from the Whites.

“Yes, and I took time over it [Leeds offer]. I had offers from more than one team from the Premier League, from the Champions and from Leeds as well as from other countries: Portugal, Germany…”

Gomez was also asked about whether he spoke to Bielsa about a move, to which he replied: “No, no, not directly with him, but we have been in contact in another way and it was one of the options that attracted me. I was very good here with Bielsa, I had a very good season, but I didn’t think it was time to change country in January.”

The Verdict:

Gomez was quite clearly a man in demand this winter and it appears Leeds had only just missed out on his signature.

The 29-year-old would have been a great addition to the squad at Elland Road as he would have had an influence in helping them push for Premier League football.

However, this will now be a case of what could have been and Leeds will not want to dwell on the fact that they missed out on him this January.